Armand Bouchart

Armand Bouchart (died 1193) was the Grand Master of the Templar Order from 1191 to 1193, succeeding Robert de Sable. Bouchart was the captain in charge of the Knights Templar troops stationed on Cyprus in 1192, although the arrogance of the Templars led to a revolt that forced the Templars to sell the island to the Crusaders, becoming the Kingdom of Cyprus. Bouchart was assassinated by the Hashshashin in 1193.

Biography
Armand Bouchart was a French member of the Templar Order, and in 1191 he commanded the small garrison of 20 Templar troops stationed on the island of Cyprus after King Richard the Lionheart took the city for the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Bouchart was not given any reinforcements, as Grand Master Robert de Sable was busy in the war with the Saracens in the Near East during the Third Crusade. However, after the death of De Sable, he was made the new Grand Master of the Templar Order and used Cyprus as a major base. Bouchart's appropriation of resources from the Cypriot peasants and barons showed the arrogance of the Templars, and the angry Cypriots began a revolt against him. Bouchart defended the Templar archive on the island, but in late 1191 he began to run into some problems when the Hashshashin lent their support to the Cypriot resistance. Altair Ibn-La'Ahad assisted the resistance in killing Moloch, Frederick the Red, Shalim, and Shahar, the Templar agents on the island. Bouchart proceeded to tighten security on the island.

When Kyrenia fell to the Cypriots in 1193, Bouchart prepared to evacuate Buffavento Castle in Limassol while taking the archives with him. However, Altair and Templar defector Maria Thorpe attacked the castle. Thorpe was defeated by Bouchart in combat, although Bouchart was killed in single combat with Altair, and the two escaped as the castle was turned to rubble by Templar cannon fire. Cyprus fell into the hands of the Kingdom of Cyprus, a crusader kingdom that purchased the island from the Templars that year.